With 16 clubs on his resumé and many injuries later, former Champions League and FA Cup winner Djibril Cissé finds himself playing fourth-division football in the US with Panathinaikos Chicago, three years after he last kicked a ball for a club.
The fiery 40-year-old French footballer played for two years with Panthinaikos where he made a name for arguing with the referees and labelling as “barbarians” the fans of rival Athens club Olympiacos.
In 2005, Cissé who was known for his blistering pace, was still recovering from injury when he was called to come on as substitute and help Liverpool in its famous comeback victory against AC Milan in 2005. He even scored a penalty in the resultant shootout.
He was to play for two more English Premier League clubs: Sunderland under Roy Keane in 2008-09 and a brief spell with Queens Park Rangers when that team was relegated in 2013. It was in the period between playing for those two English clubs that Cissé played for Panathinaikos.
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Cissé began his career in 1989, as an eight-year-old playing for his home-town team AC Arles in France. He first as a professional footballer for AJ Auxerre in 1998 before he moved to Liverpool six years later.
Over the years he has also played for clubs in Qatar, Russia, Italy (with Lazio), and Switzerland. He played one game for JS Saint-Pierroise on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion before retiring in 2018.
His move to Panathinaikos Chicago is certain to generate interest in the club.